Curry leads Warriors past Clippers; Hawks beat Pistons for third straight win; Blazers outlast Mavs in OT
Monday 24 December 2018 11:07, UK
Rookie Jaren Jackson Jr scored 27 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Lakers to snap a five-game losing streak.
Rookie Jaren Jackson Jr scored 27 points, and Mike Conley added 17, including two key back-to-back three-pointers in the fourth quarter, as the visiting Memphis Grizzlies ended a five-game losing streak with a 107-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
Marc Gasol had 17 points as the Grizzlies won for the first time since defeating the Portland Trail Blazers on December 12.
LeBron James scored 22 points with 14 rebounds, and Brandon Ingram added 20 points as the Lakers lost for the fourth time in their last six games.
In a game when neither team led by more than six points, until Memphis jumped out to a 10-point lead in the closing minutes, the Lakers took a 75-72 lead into the fourth quarter after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer.
The Grizzlies changed the momentum quickly and helped close out the Lakers with a 16-5 run in the fourth quarter.
Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart scored 11 points each for the Lakers while Caldwell-Pope added 10.
James did not reach double figures in scoring for the Lakers until converting on a lay-up with 4:21 remaining in the third quarter. It extended his NBA record to 906 consecutive games in double figures. He didn't attempt his first free throw until 2:18 remained in the third quarter.
Damian Lillard scored 33 points and dished out seven assists as the Portland Trail Blazers pulled out a 121-118 overtime victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks.
CJ McCollum added 22 points and Jusuf Nurkic had 10 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Trail Blazers, who won for the fourth time in five outings.
Harrison Barnes scored 27 points, and Luka Doncic collected 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Mavericks, who lost their sixth straight game.
Doncic's three-pointer from the corner as time expired in the fourth quarter tied the score at 107-107 and forced the extra session.
McCollum started the free period with a dunk, and Al-Farouq Aminu followed with a three-pointer for a 112-107 Portland lead.
DeAndre Jordan dunked a follow shot to cut it to 116-113 with 1:51 to play. Another Jordan dunk got it to 116-115 with 50.2 seconds remaining.
Lillard muscled in a lay-up to give the Blazers a 118-115 lead with 34.2 seconds left.
The Mavericks missed three straight three-point attempts on their next possession before Lillard made two free throws for a 120-115 advantage with 15.6 seconds to go to wrap things up for the Blazers.
Veteran Vince Carter came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points as the visiting Atlanta Hawks defeated the Detroit Pistons 98-95 for their third straight win.
The Pistons had a chance to tie the game with 23 seconds left when Blake Griffin missed two free throws. Jeremy Lin grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to give Atlanta a 94-91 lead with 21 seconds left.
Detroit's Reggie Jackson cut the Atlanta lead to one point with a driving dunk with 13.2 seconds left. The Pistons fouled Lin, who made both free throws with 12.5 seconds left, and Kent Bazemore made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to ice the game.
Carter, at 41 playing in his 21st season, was 7-for-14 from the field with a season-high seven rebounds. Atlanta also got 15 points and a season-high 17 rebounds from Alex Len.
Detroit got 18 points from Langston Galloway, 16 points from Jackson, 13 points and 15 rebounds from Andre Drummond and 15 points and seven rebounds from Griffin.
Myles Turner finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers defeated the visiting Washington Wizards 105-89.
Indiana's balanced scoring helped them beat the struggling Wizards. Seven Pacers players scored in double figures.
Domantas Sabonis added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Bojan Bogdanovic had 14 points and Victor Oladipo added 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
Markieff Morris led Washington with 16 points off the bench.
Kyrie Irving scored 25 points and dished out five assists to lead the host Boston Celtics to a 119-103 rout of the visiting Charlotte Hornets at TD Garden.
Jayson Tatum added 17 points to pace four other Celtics in double figures. Marcus Morris added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Al Horford and Daniel Theis chipped in 10 points apiece.
Kemba Walker (21 points) Willy Hernangomez (19 points), Jeremy Lamb (14) and Malik Monk (13) finished in double figures for Charlotte, who were chasing their its third straight win.
The Celtics consistently capitalised on the visitors' offensive struggles after half-time, taking a 30-point lead on a Tatum three-pointer at the 5:07 mark of the third quarter.
After scoring on their first possession of the quarter, the Hornets missed their next five shots. Charlotte shot 8-for-21 and committed eight turnovers in the third.
Boston, meanwhile, went 10-for-20 from the field in the third and led by as many as 33 points in the second half.
Reserve Spencer Dinwiddie led six players in double figures by scoring 24 points as the Brooklyn Nets rebounded from their first loss in over two weeks by taking control in the third quarter for a 111-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Dinwiddie produced his 28th straight game in double-figures as a reserve by scoring 11 of his points in the fourth quarter. The guard shot 7-of-14, hit 8-of-9 free throws and added seven assists.
D'Angelo Russell added 18 points and eight assists as the Nets rebounded from Friday's eight-point loss to Indiana, their first defeat since December 5, by dominating the third quarter.
Rookie Rodions Kurucs notched his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Ed Davis contributed 15 points and Joe Harris chipped in 13 as Brooklyn shot 47.1 per cent and led for the final 39:42.
Suns rookie De'Andre Ayton tied a career-high with 26 points and pulled down 17 rebounds for his fifth straight double-double.
Lauri Markkanen scored 31 points - 14 in the decisive third quarter when visiting Chicago imposed its defensive will - and the Bulls went on to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-92.
The 21-year-old from Finland has 30-plus points in back-to-back games, following up Friday's 12-of-20, 32-point effort against Orlando with an 11-of-18 showing on Sunday.
After trailing 59-54 at the half, Chicago held Cleveland to 33 second-half points. For the game, the Cavs shot 38-of-84 (45.2 per cent) but just 7-of-23 (30.4 per cent) from three-point range.
Chicago used a 12-5 surge to close the quarter and take an 84-74 lead heading into the fourth. The lead grew to 98-81 on a 19-foot jumper by Dunn with 6:49 to play.
Dunn finished with 17 points, Ryan Arcidiacono added 12 points and eight assists, and Justin Holiday chipped in 15.
Larry Nance Jr led Cleveland with 20 points, but with only six rebounds he failed to collect a double-double for the first time in four games.
Tyler Johnson's big third quarter propelled the Miami Heat to a 115-91 win on the road against the Orlando Magic.
Johnson led the Heat with 25 points, and Justise Winslow had 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Heat made 16-of-31 three-pointers and forced the Magic into 19 turnovers.
Evan Fournier had 17 points, and Aaron Gordon added 14 for the Magic, who have lost three straight and six of their last eight.
Orlando failed to top 100 points for the seventh consecutive game, and Miami held an opponent below 100 points for the fifth consecutive game.
Johnson made five three-pointers and scored 20 points in the third quarter for the Heat, who led by as much as 26 in the period.
Andrew Wiggins scored 30 points, including a key jumper with 14.3 seconds left, to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 114-112 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The win was just the second in eight games for the Timberwolves and snapped a four-game winning streak for the Thunder.
Wiggins didn't exactly make it easy on Minnesota, though, missing three critical free throws in the final 1:36 to help keep Oklahoma City in the game.
The teams traded the lead four times in the final minutes, with Russell Westbrook putting Oklahoma City up with 23 seconds remaining before Wiggins finished on the other end.
Westbrook drove toward the basket before kicking out to Alex Abrines, who was open for a three-pointer. But the shot missed the mark, Wiggins grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
He made one of two, giving the Thunder one last chance, but George's desperation three-pointer hit off the top of the backboard to end the game.
George had 31 points and 11 rebounds to lead Oklahoma City. Westbrook had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his 113th career triple-double.
Buddy Hield scored 28 points as the Sacramento Kings overcame an early 19-point deficit to defeat the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 122-117.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Kings, who scored 36 points in the fourth quarter. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 24 points and seven assists and De'Aaron Fox had 19 points and 11 assists.
Anthony Davis scored 26 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Pelicans, who have lost four in a row, and Jrue Holiday had 27 points. Julius Randle had 18 points and nine rebounds
The Pelicans led by as many as 19 points in the first quarter. The lead dropped to four during the third quarter before they took a 10-point lead into the fourth.
The Kings worked their way back and took a 107-105 lead with 5:01 to play in the fourth on Hield's driving lay-up.
Cauley-Stein completed a three-point play to put Sacramento ahead by one point with 2:40 to go. Cauley-Stein's layup had the lead at three and two free throws by Bjelica made the lead five with 1:10 to play.
Randle made a jump shot with 5.6 seconds left that would have pulled New Orleans within three, but it was disallowed after a video review and he was called for an offensive foul.
Stephen Curry scored on a drive with 0.5 seconds left to lift the Golden State Warriors to a 129-127 victory against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
Curry finished with 42 points, Kevin Durant had 35 points and 12 rebounds and Draymond Green contributed 14 points, six assists and five steals for the Warriors.
Tobias Harris had 32 points and nine rebounds, and Danilo Gallinari finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who shot 18-for-23 from three-point range.
The Warriors took a nine-point lead, their biggest of the game, into the fourth quarter before the Clippers scored the first eight points and eventually took a 117-116 lead on a bank shot by Montrezl Harrell with 4:26 left.
The Warriors scored the next nine points, however. Curry's four-point play gave Golden State a 122-117 lead with 3:32 remaining, and Durant sank a three-pointer on the next possession to make it 125-117.
The Clippers cut the deficit to 127-125 on a three-pointer by Avery Bradley with 40.6 seconds left, and then tied the score on Bradley's dunk off an offensive rebound with 19.6 seconds left.
The Clippers had a foul to give, but did not use it as Curry drove into the lane for the winning basket.
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